Mónica Lavín

Mónica Lavín was born on 22 August 1955 in Mexico City, Mexico. She earned a degree in biology from the Metropolitan Autonomous University.[2] Lavín began writing when she was a teenager, completing her first stories around age thirteen.[3] Her best known works include Café cortado, awarded best book of the year (Premio Narrativa de Colima 2001)[4][5] and La más faulera[6] (Grijalbo), a novel for young readers that has been reprinted several times.[4] Her novel Despertar los apetitos (Alfaguara, 2005), combines Lavín’s passions for food and travel and is based on her trip across Canada on the Transcanadian Railway as a gastronomy journalist.[7][8] Yo, la peor (Grijalbo, 2009), a historical novel about Mexican poet and scholar Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz,[9] was very well received by critics and readers and won the Elena Poniatowska Ibero-American Novel Prize (Spanish: Premio Iberoamericano de Novela Elena Poniatowska).[2][4] Lavín’s latest novels are La casa chica (Planeta: 2012) and Doble filo (PRHM: 2014).[10][11]

Lavín has also published many non-fiction works in the fields of scientific and food journalism. She is a contributor to a variety of periodicals including El Economista, El Universal, Época, La Plaza, La Vida Literaria, Memoria de Papel, Mundo Celular, Nonotza, and Vértigo.[2] Her book of essays Leo luego escribo: ideas for enjoying reading (Lectorum, 2000) was chosen for the National Classroom Library Program. Her stories appear in anthologies both in Mexico and around the world (United States, Italy, Canada, France, Panamá).[12] She was a Literary resident in the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada,[13] the Yaddo Colony of the Arts in Saratoga Springs and The Hermitage Retreat in Florida. She has worked as a publisher, scriptwriter; and radio and television host in conversation with other writers. She has been invited to give lectures and readings in Mexico and abroad.[2][3][14] She writes for the cultural section of the El Universal newspaper, Fahrenheit art magazine, and interviews writers for public television in Mexico.[15] She is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores (FONCA), was a teacher for the SOGEM Writers’ School, and is currently a professor in the Creative Writing Department of the Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México in México City.[12]

As a documentary screenwriter, Lavín received the Pantalla de Cristal Award (2010) for coauthoring "Bajo la región más transparente"[16] about Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. She works in radio, television and print media. She has given conferences and lectures in various forums and universities in México as well as abroad. She wrote the musical and cuisine show for the band Mariachi Charanda entitled "Canciones a la Carta". She belongs to Mexico's National System of Creators.

Lavín is a columnist for the newspaper El Universal, and in addition has given conferences both in Mexico as well as in Italy, France, the U.S.A., and Canada. Currently she writes the column "Dorar la pildora"[17] in the Cultural Section of El Universal, and she also writes for the magazine Fahrenheit. In 2011, she participated in the Annual Writers' Conference[18] held in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, as well as in a conference at the Instituto de Artes Gráficas in Oaxaca. Additionally, she is the host of the radio program "Ficcionario de Código DF"[19] that is broadcast on the Internet, and she is currently co-host with writer Rosa Beltrán of a literary talk show on Canal 22, "Contraseñas".[20]

Lavín received the Gilberto Owen National Literary Prize in 1996 for her work Ruby Tuesday no ha muerto.[2][10] She was awarded the Premio Narrativa de Colima in 2001 for Café cortado[5] and was a finalist for the Antonin Artaud award with Uno no sabe in 2003.[10] Her Yo, la peor was the 2010 winner of the Elena Poniatowska Ibero-american Novel Prize.[2]